LSU Meets Oregon State Monday Night in Omaha

June 18, 2017, 07:08 PM (CT)
Updated: June 19, 2017, 12:30 PM (CT)

Bill Franques
Communications Sr. Associate

OMAHA, Neb. – LSU (49-17), the No. 4 NCAA Tournament National Seed, continues College World Series play at 6 p.m. CT Saturday when the Tigers face No. 1 National Seed Oregon State (55-4) at TD Ameritrade Park.

The LSU-Oregon State game will be carried on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), and the radio broadcast may be heard at www.LSUsports.net/live.

Monday's game will be televised on ESPN, and it may also be viewed online at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.

LSU advanced to the winners' bracket game against Oregon State after the Tigers defeated Florida State, 5-4, on Saturday night. Oregon State advanced with a 6-5 victory Saturday over Cal State Fullerton.

LSU, the 2017 SEC regular-season and tournament champion, has won 17 games in a row and 22 of its past 24 contests. Oregon State enters Monday's game riding a 22-game win streak.

“Oregon State really has an outstanding ball club,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It seems like every player in their lineup was chosen in the draft, and they have a tremendous pitching staff with a sub-2.00 ERA. We have a lot of respect for (OSU) Coach (Pat) Casey and his staff, and I expect that this game will be a complete blast. Both teams are outstanding and will play with every bit of heart that they have, and hopefully, we'll score more runs than they do”

Oregon State hasn't lost since April 29, when it dropped a 7-5 decision at home to Southern California. LSU hasn't lost since May 9, when South Alabama posted a 7-6 win over the Tigers.

Mainieri said that freshman right-hander Eric Walker (8-1, 3.46 ERA) will start Monday's game on the mound for LSU. Walker has been brilliant in his two postseason starts, defeating Arkansas in the SEC Tournament final and earning a win over Rice in the NCAA Regional final.

Walker is 2-0 in those postseason outings with a 0.57 ERA in 15.2 innings, one walk and 16 strikeouts.

LSU is hitting .294 as a team this season with 62 homers and 74 steals in 100 attempts. Sophomore leftfielder Antoine Duplantis is batting a team-high .326 with 14 doubles and 58 RBI. Senior second baseman Cole Freeman is hitting .325 with 41 RBI and 54 runs scored.

OSU is expected to counter with sophomore right-hander Bryce Fehmel (5-2, 3,80 ERA). The Beavers' pitching staff has a minuscule 1.86 ERA, and has limited opponents to a 1.95 batting average.

Oregon State is hitting .296 as a team this season with 29 home runs and 62 steals in 80 attempts. The Beavers are led at the plate by sophomore infielder Nick Madrigal, who is batting .385 with 19 doubles, two triples, four homers and 37 RBI.

Junior infielder/catcher KJ Harrison is batting .324, and he has a team-high eight homers for the Beavers with 13 doubles and 39 RBI, while sophomore outfielder Trevor Larnach is hitting .307 with 16 doubles, three homers and 44 RBI.

LSU has a 2-0 all-time mark against Oregon State; the only prior two meetings between the teams came at the 2012 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, where the Tigers posted wins over the Beavers by scores of 7-1 in the regional semifinal and 6-5 (10 innings) in the regional final. LSU is 5-4 against Pac12 teams in College World Series games – the Tigers are 3-1 vs. Stanford, 2-2 vs. Southern California and 0-1 vs. UCLA.

Oregon State Beavers (55-4) vs. LSU Fighting Tigers (49-17)

DATE/TIMEMonday, June 19 – 6 p.m. CT

STADIUMTD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.

RADIOLSU Sports Radio Network; in Baton Rouge on WDGL 98.1 FMRadio broadcast for all LSU baseball games are available at www.LSUsports.net

TV/ONLINETV– ESPNOnline – all CWS games accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app

LSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENTLSU has the highest winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history with a 149-58 (.720) record; the Tigers are competing in the tournament for the 30th time ... LSU is the No. 4 NCAA Tournament National Seed, marking the sixth straight year in which the Tigers have been named a National Seed by the NCAA Baseball Committee … LSU and Stanford (1999-04) are the only schools in NCAA history to earn six straight National Seeds … the Tigers are making their 18th College World Series appearance (all since 1986) ... LSU and Cal State Fullerton are tied for seventh place in all-time CWS berths ... LSU has won six College World Series titles (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009) and the Tigers are tied with Texas for the most CWS championships; first-place Southern California has 12 CWS titles … LSU has a 37-24 (.607) all-time mark in College World Series games.

SERIES RECORD VS. OREGON STATELSU has a 2-0 all-time mark against Oregon State; the only prior two meetings between the teams came at the 2012 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, where the Tigers posted wins over the Beavers by scores of 7-1 in the regional semifinal and 6-5 (10 innings) in the regional final. LSU is 5-4 against Pac12 teams in College World Series games – the Tigers are 3-1 vs. Stanford, 2-2 vs. Southern California and 0-1 vs. UCLA.